Saint Joseph's Day

Feast of Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph's Day is the Catholic feast of Saint Joseph. Its canton-wide public-holiday scope is concentrated in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais.

Patron of families and workers

In church tradition, Joseph is honoured as a patron of families and workers. Services and patronal feasts are local religious observances and do not automatically widen the statutory scope.

Canton-wide in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais. Solothurn's current Rest Days Act allows municipalities to designate additional local rest days; that does not make Saint Joseph's Day canton-wide, and no current canton-wide municipal list is published.

Only Swiss National Day on 1 August has federal constitutional holiday status. Saint Joseph's Day is governed cantonally and, in Solothurn, municipally.

Saint Joseph's Day applies canton-wide in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais. In Solothurn, that does not create a canton-wide holiday, although a municipality may designate an additional local rest day.

Only after that location check can the work roster be interpreted. Employment contracts, collective agreements and workplace scheduling still fill in the practical details.

Saint Joseph's Day does not define whether a school or childcare service is closed.

Families may need the school calendar for the school location.

The workplace follows its own applicable local rule.

Retailers and local services publish opening hours for the relevant place. The statutory scope is not a substitute for the provider's concrete information.

Saint Joseph's Day falls on Thursday, 19 March 2026. Confirm the municipality and workplace rule before treating Friday as a bridge day, especially in Solothurn where observance is municipal.

For Friday, 20 March 2026, distinguish the five canton-wide areas from any Solothurn municipal decision first.